St John needs fund to reach remote Central

ST John is planning a fundraising drive to raise money for new ambulances to serve the people of Central.
St John Ambulance attended to about 3800 incidents in 2017, with 20 per cent of the cases involving obstetric-related emergencies.
Last year, it had increased to 7800.
St John Assistant Commissioner Rigona Rita said that two weeks ago an ambulance crew had travelled for two hours from Port Moresby to Central to get to a woman who was losing a lot of blood after giving birth.
They spent an hour and a half trying to resuscitate the woman but she had lost a lot of blood and died.
“The sad thing is she would have lived if an ambulance team had been stationed closer,” Rita said.
“This is a far too common situation affecting the people of Central and must be addressed through better investment in ambulance services.”
Rita said they planned to buy four new 4WD ambulances to use in Port Moresby and Central. They are calling on MPs in Port Moresby and Central support the fundraising.
Each ambulance costs around K225,000 to fit out, equip and put on the road.
“When a woman goes into labour, or an accident happens, people need to quickly and easily get help from an ambulance,” Rita said.
The ambulance should be staffed by trained paramedics and equipped for an emergency.
“The St John does all this in NCD and some parts of Central close to Port Moresby,” Rita said.
“But we know people in more remote parts of Central are crying out for this type of service.”